While Odell Beckham Jr. gets closer to making a decision in where he will sign, teams could look to pivot to the trade market to land a different receiver.
Odell Beckham Jr., one of the most electric wide receivers in today’s game, remains on the free agent market after spending the offseason recovering from an ACL injury.
While many teams have been lined up for his services in free agency, he has reportedly been able to narrow down his list of ideal teams to sign with to just five clubs: The Chiefs, Packers, Rams, Bills and Ravens.
With OBJ rumored to not be ready until some time in November, teams interested in him could pivot ahead of the NFL Trade Deadline to a receiver from the Houston Texans that is on the trade block.
NFL Trade Rumors: Could teams interested in OBJ pivot to Brandin Cooks trade?
Per NFL insider Dov Kleiman, each of the Chiefs, Packers and Rams have reached out to the Texans regarding a trade for Brandin Cooks.
In what is his third season with the Texans, Cooks has totaled 28 receptions, good for 281 yards and an average of ten yards per reception.
Over the course of his career, he has been a consistent threat to the top 1,000 receiving yards and has been the face of durability, making no less than 16 appearances in just two of the past seven years of him being a full-time NFL player.
Cooks, 29, has already been traded three times over the course of his NFL career and seems likely to add a fourth to that list before the November 1st trade deadline. A fourth trade for Cooks would tie the all-time record currently held by Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson.
Cooks signed a two-year contract extension with Houston in April of 2022 worth $39.6M ($36M guaranteed), so any team bringing him aboard via trade would get him for the remainder of this year and the entirety of 2023.
The former first-round pick of the Saints back in 2014 has developed into the best receiver that the Texans have, but with a record of 1-4-1, the team does not appear to have its eyes on contention for the current campaign.
Both the Packers and Rams have an obvious need for receivers in their club. Green Bay has struggled to adjust to the loss of Davante Adams while the Rams can’t seem to find a reliable No. 2 receiver to slot behind Cooper Kupp.
The Chiefs don’t necessarily have a glaring need for Cooks but acquiring him in a trade would give them an embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position, as each of Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman and Clyde Edwards-Helaire have excelled this season.